BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/11/2005

U.S. Urges Belarus To Stop Harassing Local Helsinki Committee

By Jeffrey Thomas, Washington File

Diplomat says case is part of pattern of harassment against independent press

The United States is calling for the Belarusian authorities to end their continuing harassment of the Belarus Helsinki Committee, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that reports on human-rights violations and monitors elections.

Belarusian authorities are seeking to reopen a case against the Belarus Helsinki Committee (BHC) on charges of which it has been cleared repeatedly. This effort "makes a mockery of rule-of-law principles," U.S. diplomat Bruce Connuck told the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) October 27.

"In the context of the sustained harassment by the authorities of the Belarus Helsinki Committee, which engages in admirable work to raise awareness of the serious human rights problems in Belarus, we can only view this latest development as politically motivated," said Connuck.

In June 2004, the Supreme Economic Court of Belarus dropped all charges against the BHC, finding that charges of tax evasion were groundless, according to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Belarus welcoming the decision at that time. (The statement is available on the embassy's Web site.)

However, in September 2004, the Belarusian Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court aimed at closing the Belarus Helsinki Committee. Ambassador Stephan Minikes, the head of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE at the time, noted that the lawsuit was filed after the BHC questioned the legality of an upcoming referendum on eliminating presidential term limits. (See related article.)

The BHC was not informed about the exact charges that were filed against it, and ultimately the Supreme Court returned the case back to the Ministry of Justice "without consideration," according to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF).

Nevertheless, the Belarusian authorities are continuing their repressive policies toward independent NGOs. In October, a protest against the June 2004 court decision that cleared the Belarus Helsinki Committee of tax evasion charges was prepared by the first deputy chair of the Supreme Economic Court (SEC).

"The IHF and BHC consider the actions of the first deputy chair of the SEC to be contrary to the rule of law and to be politically motivated, directed to liquidation of the human rights organization, which reports about the widespread human rights violations and undertakes monitoring of election campaigns in Belarus," according to an IHF news release.

At the OSCE October 27, Connuck, the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, called on Belarus "to end its campaign against the Belarus Helsinki Committee and to allow the normal development of civil society in accordance with OSCE commitments."

The full text (PDF) of Connuck's statement is available on the Web site of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE.

BELARUSIAN ATTACKS AGAINST INDEPENDENT MEDIA CONDEMNED

The campaign by the Belarusian authorities against the BHC has been part of a larger war on the independent press and all organizations not under strict government control.

Reporters Without Borders repeatedly has denounced Belarusian government attacks on the independent media, most recently on October 28, when it noted that "17 journalists from the country's Polish minority have been arrested in the past three months."

On October 29, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported the arrest of 70 members of an independent election-monitoring group on charges of attending an unauthorized meeting.

In testimony before the Helsinki Commission October 25, Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said repression in Belarus "has only deepened" in 2005. "New legal measures aim to silence independent voices, monopolize information, and obstruct all elements of political opposition and democratization," he said. (See related article.)

Referring to the Belarusian government's "cynical contempt for freedom and democracy," Fried said it falls further and further behind in realizing its OSCE commitments.

"The regime in Belarus continues to consolidate its monopoly on information," he said. "It has intensified its attempt to stifle the besieged independent media. Rather than protecting it, the law straitjackets free speech. The authorities have suspended newspapers, levied crippling fines, and brought specious libel suits to chill dissent."

Concerning NGO's, Fried said, "The government of Belarus continues to make it even more difficult, if not impossible, for NGOs, political parties, independent trade unions, and private educational institutions to function."

In short, the harassment of BHC appears part of a larger campaign to crush all dissent in the former Soviet republic, he concluded.

The Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, which was passed unanimously by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, provides assistance for Belarusian political parties, NGOs and independent media while prohibiting U.S. government agencies from providing loans and investment to the Belarus government, except for humanitarian goods. (See related article.)

"At a time when freedom is advancing around the world, Aleksandr Lukashenko and his government are turning Belarus into a regime of repression in the heart of Europe, its government isolated from its neighbors and its people isolated from each other," Bush said in a statement about the act.

The most recent State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Belarus is available on the State Department Web site.

Source: U.S. Department of State

Source:

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